Should I Stay Or Should I Go?

The reasons people decide to stay at an institution are just as important as the reasons people decide to leave.

As a senior Lasell College Leadership Scholar, a requirement of our last year is that we are assigned a mentor to meet with a few times over the year. My mentor is James Tweed, Dean of undergraduate admissions. James and I have met a few times already and discussed some pretty controversial topics about campus life.

At the end of our last meeting he expressed his interest in learning why students stay at Lasell. He mentioned that the school is learning why students leave, but is curious as to why they opt not to.

I asked a few of my friends and these were the top three reasons why students at Lasell stay:

1) Just never thought about transferring.
2) I liked the size and everything, never had any problems.
3) I couldn’t leave my friends.

Reason number 3 interested me the most. It got me thinking about the relationships I’ve made thus far here at Lasell. I’ve met some of my absolute best friends, made great connections with professors in my field, and got the chance to experience some of the most memorable moments of my life with the people I am surrounded by daily.

For the most part, if you aren’t open to making connections at a school, your experience will be that much worse. I think of all the issues I’ve had with Lasell and then think about how much worse those experiences would be had I not made the connections with the people I have. I have made enough connections to know exactly who to talk to with an issue. I also know exactly who I can go to if i ever need help with anything outside of school.

No matter where you are, you must be open to connecting with new people. You might meet your best friend, your future employer, even the love of your life. Making the best out of the relationships you have with people at your school will ultimately make or break your experience at an institution. These relationships could be the reasons you stay, or go.